Resilience as Policy in the US

The Risk & Resilience Program at GSD, HUCE, and the Climate Governance Initiative welcome Judge Alice Hill, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; former Special Assistant to President Obama; and Senior Director for Resilience Policy, National Security Council, for a conversation about resilience as policy in the US with Jesse M. Keenan, GSD.

This event highlights the recent history of developing federal policies that seek to advance the resilience of America's communities, economy, and infrastructure within the context of climate change, economic transformations, cyber security and conventional multi-hazard risks. As Senior Director for Resilience Policy at the National Security Council and Special Assistant to President Obama, Judge Alice Hill defined and managed a broad array of resilience policies and practices that covered nearly ever spectrum of the federal government. Through a conversation with Dr. Jesse M. Keenan (GSD), the event seeks to contextualize recent disasters within current policies and capacities that speak not only to the current federal response but also to a path forward in the face of deep political, economic and environmental uncertainty.

Alice C. Hill is a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution where her work focuses on building resilience to destabilizing catastrophic events, including the impacts of climate change. Prior to joining Hoover, she served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Resilience Policy for the National Security Council. While at the White House, Hill led the development of national policy regarding national security and climate change, incorporation of climate resilience considerations into international development, Federal efforts in the Arctic, building national capabilities for long-term drought resilience, and the establishment of national risk management standards for 3 of the most damaging natural hazards. She served as a member of several U.S. delegations, including to the GLACIER Conference regarding climate change in the Arctic. Hill previously served as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and as an ex officio member of the Federal Advisory Committee for the National Climate Assessment. In addition, she led the DHS Task Force responsible for creating the first ever climate adaptation plans for the Department. She is also the founder and first Chairperson of the internationally recognized Blue Campaign, an initiative to combat human trafficking.

Prior to her work in Washington, Hill served as Supervising Judge on both the Superior and Municipal Courts in Los Angeles and as Chief of the white-collar crime prosecution unit in the Los Angeles United States Attorney’s Office. She has received numerous awards, including the San Fernando Valley Bar Association’s “Judge of the Year” Award and the Department of Justice’s John Marshall Award for outstanding legal achievement, as well as commendations from Federal, state, and non-governmental organizations.

She received her BA from Stanford University and JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.